The following faculty members have been recognized with Mary Frances Early College of Education Faculty Awards. These awards will be presented at the College’s 2026 Celebration of Excellence on Friday, March 27.
Faculty Senate joins us in congratulating all nominees and expressing appreciation to the nominators, departments across the College, Takenya Moore and Zu Reuter in the Office of Faculty and Staff Services, and the Mary Frances Early College of Education Awards Committee: Emily Adah Miller, Turhan Carroll, Ai-Chu Elisha Ding, Lenoir Gillam, Erin Hamel, and Xiaoming Zhai.
Please join us in congratulating the recipients:
- Ira E. Aaron Award for Teaching Excellence & Collegiality: Bryan McCullick, professor, Department of Kinesiology
- Aderhold Distinguished Professor Award: AnnaMarie Conner, professor, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
- Ocie T. Dekle Excellence in Teaching Award: Alison Morrison, clinical associate professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
- Carl Glickman Faculty Fellow Award: Becca Leopkey, associate professor, Department of Kinesiology
- Arthur M. Horne Faculty Award for Community Engagement and Research: Georgia Hodges, assistant professor, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
- Jenny Penney Oliver Inclusion and Belonging Award: Matthew Schmidt, professor, Department of Workforce Education and Instructional Technology
- Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence at the Assistant Level: Ai-Chu Elisha Ding, assistant professor, Department of Workforce Education and Instructional Technology
- Faculty Senate D. Keith Osborn Award for Teaching Excellence at the Associate Level: Michael Barger, associate professor, Department of Educational Psychology
- Donald O. Schneider Mentoring Award: Steve Salaga, associate professor, Department of Kinesiology
- Russell H. Yeany Jr. Research Award: Patrick O’Connor, professor, Department of Kinesiology
Please join the Mary Frances Early College of Education in congratulating our colleagues on their successful promotions and/or tenure reviews. Their promotions will be effective in August. Thank you to all the faculty, staff, and administrators involved in this important process.
Promotion to associate professor with tenure
- Sarah Grace Dalton, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
- Ai-Chu Elisha Ding, Department of Workforce Education and Instructional Technology
- Tianna Dowie-Chin, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
- Meseret Hailu, Institute of Higher Education
- Nicole Kirk, Department of Kinesiology
- Katherine Sciurba, Department of Language and Literacy Education
- Dallin Young, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
Promotion to professor
- Usree Bhattacharya, Department of Language and Literacy Education
- Daniel Capps, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
- Collette Chapman-Hilliard, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
- Liang Chen, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
- Logan Fiorella, Department of Educational Psychology
- Amanda Giordano, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services
- Hilary Hughes, Department of Educational Theory and Practice
- Rebecca Leopkey, Department of Kinesiology
- Tisha Lewis Ellison, Department of Language and Literacy Education
- Robert Lynall, Department of Kinesiology
- Jill Stefaniak, Department of Workforce Education and Instructional Technology
- Shiyu Wang, Department of Educational Psychology
- Xiaoming Zhai, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education
Promotion to clinical associate professor
- Alexandra Cox, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy
- Jamie Hogan, Department of Language and Literacy Education
- SoMang Moon, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
Promotion to clinical professor
- Christopher Mojock, Department of Kinesiology
- Amy Murphy, Department of Educational Theory and Practice
Promotion to senior lecturer
- Amy Peterson, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education
Thank you to the following committee members for their service and dedication: Sandie Bass-Ringdahl, Jami Berry, Kristen Bub, Amy Ellis, Amanda Ferster, Brian Glaser, Janette Hill, Marsha Hines, Kyunghwa Lee, Rebecca Lieberman-Betz, Ilse Mason, Chris Modlesky, Robyn Ovrick, Petros Panaou, T.J. Ragan, Ajay Sharma, Gretchen Thomas, and Beth Tolley.
All eligible faculty (regular, full-time clinical and tenure-track faculty at all ranks) should have received a ballot via email to vote on the revised clinical faculty appointment and promotion guidelines. The ballots arrived on Monday, March 2 at 8 a.m. and are from sender QuestionPro Survey. If you did not receive your ballot, please check your junk mail. If you have issues with the ballot, please contact Jason Tiller.
The ballot will remain open until Monday, March 16 at 11:59 p.m.
For details about this vote, please see the previous COEfyi announcement.
Important IT Security Change for Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Assistants
Effective Wednesday, April 1, 2026, the Office of Information Technology is implementing a plan to secure account access to all University-owned computers.
What’s changing
- All College-provided computers will move from administrative accounts to standard user accounts
- You will log in as a standard user going forward
Why this is happening
- To better protect student, faculty, staff, donor, and research data
- To reduce risks from ransomware and malicious software
- To comply with UGA, USG, and granting agency security requirements
- Similar changes are already in place in other UGA colleges
What this means for your work
- No impact on daily tasks: You can continue using Office 365, Zoom, browsers, and accessing your files as usual
- Software installs and updates:
- OIT will assist you with installing software and updates—in some cases, allowing just-in-time updates remotely
- All changes will be logged (by policy requirements)
Need permanent admin access?
- Persistent administrative access will be rare and by exception only
- Requires:
- A completed IT Policy Exception Request Form
- Confirmation that required security tools are installed
- Dean/department head/director approval
- Exceptions are logged, audited, and reviewed annually
Timeline and support
- OIT will contact departments with specific transition timelines ahead of April 1
- For questions or exception requests, contact the OIT Help Desk
Visit our website to access the agenda and minutes from the February Leadership Council meeting.
- Internal UGA submission deadline: Monday, March 16
- Sponsor submission deadline: Tuesday, June 30
Early-career faculty within seven years of receiving their doctorate are eligible to apply for the annual William T. Grant Scholars Program. UGA can allow one nominee to go forward to complete a proposal for submission. This is a notice of the internal competition to choose the nominee for the 2026 funding cycle. Please notify the Office of Research and Graduate Education of your interest in applying by emailing coe-research@uga.edu.
The Foundation selects 4-6 scholars each year who are each awarded exactly $425,000, distributed over five years. Awards begin July 1 and are made to the applicant’s institution. If you are interested in applying for this program, please read the materials on the Scholars Program website and review the Scholars Program application guide for important details to guide you in your decision to apply.
The Foundation’s mission is to support research to improve the lives of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. Scholar applicants must select one of the two focus areas the William T. Grant Foundation has identified for funding priority to situate their project:
- Reducing inequality
- Improving the use of research evidence
Interested applicants should visit the UGA Limited Submissions InfoReady website for more information about applying to this limited submission opportunity. Please contact Limited Submissions with any questions.
College of Education professor emeritus Carl Glickman and his wife, Sara Glickman, have generously funded an endowment to support faculty in implementing collaborative projects in high-needs schools.
Faculty are invited to apply for funds to support them in working beside school partners to implement student-centered, project-based work beginning in the 2026-27 academic year for up to three years. The project is intended to take place as part of the general P-12 curriculum provided for all students and not in selective or elective courses, summer programs, or after school programs. The work must take place in a public school with 50% or more of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
The proposal must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence the project was collectively developed by P-12 school partners and UGA faculty and that both are fully engaged in the activities of the project. The intent of this funding is to seed long-term collaborations between UGA faculty and school partners.
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty members and school partners. One award of $20,000-$25,000 per year will be made, and the project can be renewed for a total of three years, pending annual review of progress. Funds can be used for project-related expenses, such as release time for faculty, graduate assistants, travel to school sites, stipends for classroom teachers, and instructional materials.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome by mid-April.
- Lilly Teaching Fellows application deadline: Friday, March 20
- Senior Teaching Fellows application deadline: Friday, March 27
The UGA Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is pleased to invite applications for the 2026-28 Lilly Teaching Fellows program and nominations for the 2026-2027 Senior Teaching Fellows program. These distinguished programs recognize and support faculty who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to teaching excellence and to the integration of teaching, research, and service at the University of Georgia.
Lilly Teaching Fellows program
The Lilly Teaching Fellows program is the University of Georgia’s premier teaching fellows program for pre-tenure faculty. It supports early-career faculty who demonstrate a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and who seek to cultivate a reflective, scholarly approach to teaching in a collaborative learning community. Each spring semester, 10 faculty members in their first, second, or third year of a tenure-track appointment are selected to participate in this two-year cohort experience beginning the following fall.
For more information and application procedures, please visit the CTL website.
Senior Teaching Fellows program
The Senior Teaching Fellows program affirms the vital role of senior faculty in advancing a culture of teaching excellence and recognizes accomplished tenured faculty who are dedicated teaching scholars. Each spring semester, eight associate or full professors who have been at the University of Georgia for at least five years are selected to participate in this year-long program beginning the following fall.
For more information and nomination procedures, please visit the CTL website.
The Hutchinson-Crim Mentorship Program, offered through the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, is given to five outstanding undergraduate students in the Mary Frances Early College of Education who demonstrate a commitment to education and a desire to both mentor and be mentored. Students earn a $1,000 scholarship and are paired with a faculty mentor for the academic year.
Do you know a student who would be a good candidate for this program? Nominate them using our form.
Students who are nominated will receive an individualized email invitation to apply to the program, and their nomination will be noted on their application materials.
Targeted After Generative Learning for Causal Inference with Latent Variables
- Date: Monday, March 16
- Time: 11:30 a.m-12:30 p.m.
- Location: Aderhold Hall Room 201
- Speaker: Benjamin Kelcey, professor, University of Cincinnati
Benjamin Kelcey is a professor of quantitative methods at the University of Cincinnati. Kelcey’s research focuses on causal inference, machine learning, structural equation modeling (SEM), and (latent) measurement methods within the context of multilevel and multidimensional settings, such as classrooms and schools. His research has been funded by several funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, and the Spencer Foundation.
Abstract: Latent variables (e.g., achievement, instruction, efficacy) and causal inference are central to implementing empirical research and advancing substantive theory across the social sciences. Conventional latent-variable frameworks, such as structural equation modeling (SEM), are severely constrained by simplifying assumptions (e.g., linearity, additivity, and correct model specification). In this study, we relax key SEM assumptions by building data-adaptive estimation methods for causal inference with latent variables. We developed a Targeted After Generative (TAG) learning framework that integrates SEM-informed variational autoencoders (SEM VAEs) with targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) to, e.g., estimate the effect of a treatment on a latent outcome controlling for latent and observed covariates. On the generative side, the SEM VAE encodes theory-aligned neural networks that simultaneously learn flexible and unknown measurement and structural models. On the targeted learning side, we construct an efficient influence function for the treatment effect with the SEM-VAE implied posterior distribution of the latent variables to estimate the average effect. Across simulations, the TAG learning approach uniformly outperforms alternative approaches and demonstrates little to no bias in finite samples. TAG learning offers a principled, flexible, and practical approach to causally interpretable, theory-aligned data-adaptive analysis with latent variables. More practically, the framework allows nearly unbiased estimation of causal effects involving latent variables, even in the presence of unknown functional relationships in the measurement and structural models (e.g., data-adaptive effect estimation for nonlinear/nonadditive SEMs). We illustrate the method by investigating the effect of mental health induction support on teacher mental health during the first year of teaching.
- Date: Wednesday, April 1
- Time: 2:30 p.m.
- Location: Georgia Museum of Art auditorium (register today)
- Speaker: Rob Gray, Ph.D.
Join the Department of Kinesiology as we host the 2026 Ramsey Lecture Series with Rob Gray as he presents his lecture, “An Ecological Dynamics Approach to Motor Control and Motor Learning in Sports.” Please register by Friday, March 27.
Gray is a professor at Arizona State University who has been conducting research on and teaching courses related to perceptual-motor control and learning for over 25 years. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. from York University in Canada with a focus on the visual control of movement. He has served as an expert consultant/skill acquisition specialist with Nissan Motor Corp, the U.S. Air Force, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, and several other sports teams and organizations (NFL, NBA, EPL, NHL, Olympics).
In 2007, he was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association. He is the author of the best-selling books on skill acquisition, “How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills,” “Learning to Optimize Movement: Harnessing the Power of the Athlete-Environment Relationship,” and “Learning to be an ‘Ecological Coach’: Developing Attuned & Adaptable Coaching Skills.” In 2025, “How We Learn to Move” was included on the list of the Best Skill Building Books of All Time by Book Authority. He hosts and produces the popular Perception & Action Podcast.
The Ramsey Lecture Series honors the University of Georgia’s most generous individual benefactor, the late Bernard B. Ramsey (B.S. ’37), long-time chairman of the board of Merrill Lynch. His lifetime gifts totaled more than $44 million and included more than $23 million to fund the Foundation Fellowship program, the University’s most prestigious scholarship, in addition to numerous endowed chairs, programs, and classrooms across campus. His contributions also helped fund construction of a student center in the Terry College of Business, a concert hall in the Performing Arts Center, and the Butts-Mehre Athletic Heritage Hall.
The Ramsey Lecture Series is funded by an endowment of academic programs in the Ramsey Center from Bernard B. Ramsey. Through Ramsey’s generosity, internationally respected scholars have been brought to UGA each year.
Best wishes to the following individuals who departed the College during the month of February:
- Taylor Cherwinski, research professional, Department of Kinesiology
- Sandra Cooper, administrative specialist, Department of Kinesiology
Bierema receives R. Wayne Pace HRD Book of the Year Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development
Laura L. Bierema, a professor in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, Monica Fedeli (University of Padova), and Sharan B. Merriam, professor emerita in the Mary Frances Early College of Education, received the R. Wayne Pace HRD Book of the Year Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development for their 2025 book, “Adult Learning: Linking Research and Practice,” 2nd Edition, during the 2026 Academy of Human Resource Development Conference in Dallas, Texas.
Alumna receives dissertation award from the Academy of Human Resource Development
Eunbi Sim (Ph.D. ’25), an alumna of the College’s learning, leadership, and organization development program, received the Esworthy Malcolm S. Knowles Dissertation of the Year Award during the 2026 Academy of Human Resource Development Conference in Dallas, Texas. Sim is an assistant professor in organizational performance and workplace learning at Boise State University and completed her dissertation under the guidance of professor Laura L. Bierema in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy.